Early Years

Reading to children from an early age is the best way of encouraging them to love books and reading. By reading stories aloud, we take them into a world that goes well beyond our typical everyday spoken language, and form a link for them between reading, comfort and love. We need to do everything we can […]

As a Speech and Language Therapist, I am constantly amazed by the number of skills a child needs to acquire in those all important early years. ‘Children can express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen […]

With World Book Day taking place around the globe very soon, now is the perfect time to plan your celebrations… What is World Book Day? World Book Day is by far the biggest event of its kind. It’s a huge, exciting celebration of reading and books marked in more than 100 countries around the world, […]

This month we’re focussing on speech, language and communication needs. The Bercow review In 2018, it will be a decade since the UK government’s publication of The Bercow Report: a review of services for children and young people (0-19) with speech, language and communication needs. Now, I CAN (the children’s communication charity) is working with […]

This month we’re looking at a new publication which is hot off the press… New Ofsted guidance for the inspection of safeguarding Ofsted has issued guidance for inspectors to use when inspecting safeguarding under the common inspection framework. The guidance comes in the form of a handbook, which sets out exactly what inspectors must consider. Why read […]

As the new term is well underway, we’re catching up with the breaking early years news from over the summer… Early Years Foundation Stage Profile This spring, the Department for Education announced a u-turn on their plan to replace the EYFS Profile with the introduction of baseline assessment in schools this academic year. They have now […]

As the eyes of the world turn to Rio de Janeiro, the Olympics and Paralympics provide a fantastic opportunity for holiday clubs around the globe to engage in some lively themed activities… Opening ceremony Why not have your own opening ceremony? Children could dress up and role-play a section of this year’s actual ceremony (you could […]

Welcome to the early years blog. In our recent roundup of the latest early years hot topics, we discussed the controversy over the baseline assessment due to be brought into Reception classrooms from this September. This would coincide with the currently used mandatory Early Years Foundation Stage Profile becoming non-statutory. The intended purpose of the […]

Baseline assessment Assessment in UK reception classrooms is changing from this September. It will no longer be compulsory for teachers to complete an EYFS Profile for pupils to assess final attainment at the end of the EYFS. Instead, baseline testing will be introduced to assess children’s level of development at the beginning of their formal […]

Welcome to this month’s early years blog. Mother’s Day is celebrated by children around the world, showing mums everywhere love and appreciation through cards, flowers and gifts. It’s celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent in the UK and Ireland (March 6th this time around), while the date varies in other parts of the world. […]